248 Life in the Open 



feet. Then, without warning, he jerked me to my knees 

 again, and with steady lunges strove to take the boat 

 under water, and I was content to give, inch by inch, 

 foot by foot, until he calmed down. 



The bass was now headed for the offshore kelp bed, 

 half a mile away, towing the boat so rapidly that the 

 foam rose under the stern in an ominous wave. The 

 secret in this fishing is to fight the game continually, for, 

 does the man at the line rest, the bass recovers in an 

 equal ratio and the contest may be kept up until the 

 bass reaches some retreat offshore and plunges into the 

 kelp, breaking the line. To prevent this I played it 

 constantly, hauling when I could, and slacking only to 

 prevent foundering ; now flat on the bottom, bracing to 

 withstand a desperate rush ; now taking in the line, 

 receiving savage blows, never stopping, until, fifteen 

 minutes from the time of the strike, I saw a gigantic 

 black and gray form coming slowly out of the blue. 

 When the fish saw me it plunged down in a vicious 

 rush, but I turned it up again, and by strenuous effort 

 brought it near the stern. The boat was so small and 

 light that my companion lay in the bottom to preserve 

 the equilibrium, and I attempted to gaff the monster by 

 holding the line in my left hand, gaffing it amid a ter- 

 rific flurry. Once the iron in, it was jerked from my 

 hand repeatedly, and I nearly followed it overboard. 

 For half an hour I manoeuvred, and every time the fish 

 was brought within five feet it either plunged down or 

 rushed around in a manner that boded ill for our safety ; 



